


safehaven

by lovemarket



Series: Dream Titans [4]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Canon-Typical Violence, DC Comics References, First Kiss, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Minor Injuries, Not Really Funny though idk what to tag LOL
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-13 21:03:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28659918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovemarket/pseuds/lovemarket
Summary: Mark is wrapped so tightly around Renjun’s finger it’s almost embarrassing.He’s so fucked.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Mark Lee
Series: Dream Titans [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1397005
Comments: 2
Kudos: 53





	safehaven

**Author's Note:**

> its been a while. :) enjoy

Mark doesn’t remember a  _ before  _ or an  _ after _ . He just remembers a  _ during _ . His patrol was pretty tame at first until he got an alert about a drug transaction near the docks. Of course, he just had to go shut it down but he definitely didn’t expect the transaction to be a whole operation. He also didn’t expect to get his ass handed to him that night.

He practically crawls into the window when he gets back from his safehouse, groaning with sore muscles, bleeding cuts and a pounding headache. Mark must’ve been louder and more messed up than he thought when he hears his friend’s gasp after the living room light is switched on.

“Mark?” Renjun breathes out, the clang of his metal bat falling to the floor making Mark laugh just a little bit. “I thought you were some weirdo coming to fucking rob me or something. What the hell happened to you?”

Mark pulls himself up with the help of Renjun and he walks him over to the couch. “Crime happened,” he croaks. At his safehouse, Mark had tried to change out of his kevlar suit to tend to his injuries but most of them were worse than he had expected. Renjun’s place was closer to his safehouse than his own apartment, which is probably something Mark needs to work out soon. 

Renjun could help Mark more than he could help himself. He’s the one in the nursing program, not Mark. This could be good practice for the real thing, right? Right?

Renjun sighs. “This is nowhere near ‘ _ the real thing _ ’, you idiot.”

Mark didn’t mean to say that out loud.

Renjun leaves for a second but quickly returns with a first aid kit and some other things. “What happened this time?”

Renjun starts by disinfecting the cuts and wounds with rubbing alcohol. Before Mark gets the chance to answer, he’s hissing in pain and pulling away from Renjun’s touch. “It’ll be over before you know it, you big baby,” Renjun tuts, dabbing at Mark’s cuts again. “Go on.” He gestures with the cotton ball.

“I thought I was going to bust some lowkey drug transaction on the street but it ended up being some whole undercover operation of moving stock or whatever.” Mark recalls. “There were a lot of ‘em, but nothing your local Bright Knight can’t handle.” He smiles, then groans. It even hurts to smile. 

Renjun shakes his head. “I really don’t know why you continue to do this.” Mark knows where this is going and as much as he wants to be annoyed by the amount of times he’s been subjected to many variations of the tirade Renjun is about to go on, there’s a part of him that finds it cute that Renjun is so concerned. 

Being concerned is the least Renjun could feel for his friend that willingly dresses up in black and blue tights every night, basically asking to get punched in the face. Renjun doesn’t  _ have  _ to patch him up in the middle of the night when Mark shows up unannounced. Renjun could have even completely ignored the fact that Mark is  _ Nightwing _ .

Mark hadn’t even planned on telling Renjun, or anyone for that matter, at first but in the beginning Mark was a bit… clumsy. He’d left his suit in his college backpack when he and Renjun planned a study session for one of their shared anatomy classes. Really, Mark didn’t mean to let his suit hang out of his bag the way it did but Mark is just lucky (really lucky, incredibly lucky, once-in-a-lifetime lucky) that it was Renjun who saw and not some other person.

It’s been a couple of months since then and Mark can confidently say he’s gotten accustomed to appearing and disappearing when he needs to, has better excuses for when he randomly needs to go vigilante-ing, and definitely pays more attention to his surroundings before and after suiting up. 

“You’re so reckless,” Renjun sighs, moving onto Mark’s torso. “Look at this! I don’t know how you could possibly think—”

With this experience, Mark has also learned how to tune out Renjun’s scoldings. The first time Mark had gone to Renjun for help, his friend really ripped him a new asshole and Mark felt really guilty about it but this is probably the hundredth time Mark has clambered into Renjun’s apartment in the middle of the night for medical help. It’s become somewhat of a routine and while Mark is still guilty most of the time, it doesn’t amount to those feelings he’d felt the first time. Renjun nags when he’s worried, Mark has come to realize. If nagging could be a love language, Mark doesn’t doubt for a second that it would be Renjun’s.

“Are you even listening to me?” Renjun huffs. He snaps his fingers in front of Mark’s face. “Why’re you looking at me like that?” He mutters, throwing the cotton balls into a tiny plastic bag.

Mark blinks. “I’m not looking at you like anything.”

Renjun scoffs. “You’re looking at me like I’m the last carton of banana milk in the refrigerator.”

“Not true.” Mark sucks in a breath from the pain again, as Renjun lathers neo-poly-bac onto the cuts. “Sorry,” Renjun apologizes. “Just so they don’t get infected. But you know, you wouldn’t have to worry about getting infections if you…”

Mark wants to laugh. He wants to laugh at Renjun’s concern, pull him close and reassure him that it’s fine, that he does all this because he  _ wants  _ to, because the city needs saving. But even some heroes can fall victim to cowardice. He doesn’t mean to shift his gaze towards Renjun’s lips but maybe Mark can blame it on his headache and growing fatigue. He just needs to sleep, that’s why he feels the way he does right now, right? Right?

Mark swallows heavily. Renjun is leaning in. It must be a dream, Mark concludes. As much as he wants that to be true, the rational side of Mark knows it isn’t and quickly enough, he’s leaning in as well, slowly, cautiously because if he moves too fast, everything might be ruined. 

Renjun’s lips are hovering only a fingertip’s distance away from Mark’s, his head tilted slightly. Mark swears his heart is about to pop out of his chest when their lips touch as they relax into the kiss, as if it's easier than breathing. It hurts a bit, because of the cut on Mark’s lip but Mark doesn’t care. 

It’s over as soon as it started, Renjun pulling away first and clearing his throat. “I- We shouldn’t- You should be more careful.” He stutters over his words, settling on the last sentence with a firm nod. “And sleep here, because you’re very injured.”

Mark snorts. “No other reason?”

“No!” Renjun answers too quickly, his face flushing. He hurriedly packs up his first aid kit, struggling to close it as he had haphazardly thrown the contents inside the box. “No other reason besides the obvious. Goodnight.” He retreats back to his room and stays there for a minute or two before trudging back out into the living room.

“Do you want a change of clothes?” He asks, rubbing at his arm. “That would be nice.” Mark nods. 

Renjun hands him a neatly folded outfit. “Um, these are- You left these last time so I washed them. I meant to give it back but you know. Life.” He pushes them into Mark’s arms. “You can shower too. Just be careful of… everything.” He gesticulates largely. 

Mark leaves Renjun to his own devices and goes to the bathroom, closing the door behind himself. In minutes, steam fills the bathroom as Mark showers. He eyes Renjun’s shampoo and body wash. The shampoo smells like honey and apples, the body wash more on the unscented side. The scents make him feel warm and fuzzy inside.

When he’s finished, Mark tries to creep out of the bathroom in case Renjun is asleep but his efforts are to no avail. In the complete dark, Renjun lies in his bed, scrolling through his phone with the brightness on high. “You’re going to hurt your eyes like that.” Mark mutters, throwing the long sleeve shirt over his head and climbing into the bed next to him.

Renjun shrugs and continues scrolling. “I won’t be hurt as bad as you are every other night.” Mark sighs. “Low blow, man.”

Renjun huffs but turns to Mark regardless. He opens his mouth to say something, then closes it, seemingly deciding against it. There’s another beat of silence before he finally speaks. “We should probably talk about… what just happened.” He suggests, putting his phone away on the nightstand. Mark hums in agreement but it’s nearing three in the morning and the weight of the conversation isn’t necessarily something he wants to deal with at the moment. “How about later in the morning?”

“Alright. In the morning then.” Renjun agrees. “Cool. Well—”

“Promise me you’ll be more careful from now on?” Renjun interrupts him, turning his back towards Mark. “Renjun, what?” 

“I won’t be able to sleep if you don’t promise.” He insists. “Okay,” Mark nods. “I promise I’ll be more careful. For you.”

Renjun hums. They’re quiet for a moment again, the ambient noises that are usually heard at three in the morning fill the room. Renjun turns to Mark, snuggling up to him, justifying his actions by reminding him that it’s cold. “You really make me worried, you know.” He sounds sad. 

Mark frowns, a hand falling into Renjun’s hair. “I know. I’m sorry.” Mark doesn’t know what else to say. “Let’s talk more in the morning.”

When Renjun doesn’t answer, Mark assumes he fell asleep. He sighs, still running his hand through Renjun’s hair, though more lightly so as not to wake him up. 

Mark is wrapped so tightly around Renjun’s finger it’s almost embarrassing. 

He’s so fucked. 

**Author's Note:**

> i genuinely don't know how much longer i'll be writing for nct. i only keep up with renjun, mark, donghyuck, and yangyang and not as often as i used to. so if i do continue, i'd mainly be writing markren with the occasional side characters. anyway, i thought i'd let u know bc i know most ppl aren't checking up on my ao3 for non-nct fics. you can follow my [writing twitter](http://www.twitter.com/strwbry1204), though i'm a lot more active on my [main twitter](http://www.twitter.com/chyusuk). ♡ 
> 
> *Nightwing is a character from DC Comics. I do not own the rights to the superhero name.


End file.
